Is a BLOOD SACRIFICE required for the forgiveness of SINS? From a Biblical perspective, the answer is 'YES'.

Sin is the transgression of the law as defined by the Word of GOD [I John 3:4]. When Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the eyes of both Adam and Eve were opened, and they KNEW that they were naked (ie. innocence lost through FREEDOM OF CHOICE). In order to cover their nakedness, they made aprons of fig leaves for themselves. Unfortunately, this was the wrong covering because it was of their OWN making [Genesis 3:6,7]. Instead, GOD himself clothed them with coats of skins [Genesis 3:21]. Thus, GOD had to spill the blood of LAMBS in order to place the correct covering on Adam and Eve. Once driven out of the Garden, Adam's son (Abel, the keeper of sheep) recognized these things as he brought his acceptable offering of the firstlings of his flock to GOD [Genesis 4:4].

The blood of the lamb is seen again in [Exodus 12:3-11] at the institution of the Lord's Passover. This festival commemorates Israel's departure from Egypt under the leadership of Moses and guidance of GOD. To establish the nation, GOD then delivers the written Law to Moses. This Law contained all the details on the manner of blood sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins, transgressions, and iniquity within the nation of Israel. However, there was a problem. The blood sacrifices contained within the Law never ETERNALLY cleared a sinner because (1) they needed to be offered CONTINUALLY at the Tabernacle (Temple) and (2) ANIMAL blood was being offered in order to pay for MAN's sin.

Eventually, Jesus Christ begins His ministry and is referred to as 'THE LAMB OF GOD which taketh away the sin of the world'. As GOD-in-the Flesh, the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ fulfills all the requirements for an eternal solution for the payment of sin: (1) His blood sacrifice needed to be offered ONLY ONCE, (2) As a MAN, His blood sacrifice is offered for MAN, and (3) As GOD, His blood is DIVINE [Acts 20:28]. Thus, the Bible says that a man is washed of his sins when he PERSONALLY acknowledges and accepts the FINISHED work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

In conclusion, the Bible does indeed declare that a BLOOD SACRIFICE was required for the forgiveness of sins and that GOD willingly bled for fallen man. Do you agree with the Bible? Do you think that SIN exists? If so, is there another valid PAYMENT for the forgiveness of sins other than the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ?

"From a Biblical perspective,..."..and that's all there is to the truth. It's a perspective, not the truth. JUST ANOTHER way of looking at things. And since I wasn't dosed with Bible's stuff, I think you can pay with lollipops too. Then again..

“It does take great maturity to understand that the opinion we are arguing for is merely the hypothesis we favor, necessarily imperfect, probably transitory, which only very limited minds can declare to be a certainty or a truth.” - Milan Kundera

TO VESUVIUS: I am responding here because I need more than 500 characters to answer all your questions. If there is another way to respond, please advise because I am still new to this site and did not know where to go. I apologize for this inconvenience.

In relation to your post:

(1) The implications of GOD making the ultimate sacrifice for us is that salvation is EXCLUSIVE. Why would GOD have needed to take the form of man, live a sinless life, get arrested, beaten, tortured, mocked, spat on, and brutally nailed to a cross if there were multiple ways of obtaining salvation? Would this not defy the laws of logic?

(2) Believing the Bible literally actually answers more questions and solves more problems because it puts you on a solid foundation from the start. All guesswork is removed when you literally allow the Scripture to make a statement and interpret it for you within its own established context.

(3) Becoming BORN-AGAIN does NOT give someone a license to sin. Becoming BORN-AGAIN puts the Spirit of GOD inside a fleshly vessel that was previously spiritually DEAD because of sin. Becoming BORN-AGAIN will finally allow you to have a personal relationship with GOD (as your Father) in the Body of Christ. Once you have the Spirit of GOD inside you, you can establish the law. In other words, you can finally start pleasing GOD in the Spirit through your thoughts and actions because they will reflect GOD in you. The Bible says that you become a 'new creature' in Jesus Christ. You will be different in thought, in action, and in speech.

Therefore, being BORN-AGAIN places you on the foundation of Jesus Christ. The question now becomes: How will you choose to BUILD on this foundation? Some people will be stronger in the faith and build with gold, silver, and precious stones. Other people will be weaker in the faith and build with stones, wood, hay, and stubble. However, in both cases, these people have been placed in the Body of Christ and their salvation is ASSURED. Their blessings here on earth and/or their rewards in Heaven will depend on what they have built on their individual foundations. For example, look at the thief on the cross. While he was being put to death because of his actions, he honestly and truly repented and the Lord saved him. However, how many rewards is he expecting in Heaven if he was being put to death on earth for his actions? Some wicked people do get saved on their death-beds, but they have wasted their whole lives following the things of the world instead of the things of GOD. You should not wait to be saved or you run the risk of wasting all potential of rewards in Heaven. Be aware that even within the Body of Christ, GOD is always blessing and judging His own. Also, since He shed his blood for all, His MERCY is extended even to the wicked should they decide to repent.

(4) Before the Word (Jesus Christ) was made flesh, the nation of Israel had the written Law. If you were not under the Law, then you were judged by the Law written in your conscience. Before the written Law, the record of the chosen line is preserved all the way back to Noah's son (Shem). Thus, the knowledge of GOD was available. For example, Job was the greatest of all the men of the east. His meeting with GOD was preserved in a book! You will always find religions claiming that their leader is the 'supreme' one. YOU will have to evaluate and judge each claim. Do you not evaluate and judge things before making a purchase? If you want to refine your search, focus on the Axial Period (approximately 600BC-600AD). This period is called 'Axial' because from this axis turn all the great religious ideas of history. These were the principal men involved: Zoroaster, Lao-Tzu, Confucius, Siddhartha Gautama, Jesus Christ, and Muhammad. In terms of being 'supreme', who from this list performed miracles, prophesied, bled for the sins of the world, died, was buried, and resurrected?

(5) "There is no good or evil at all"? Unfortunately, the new-agers are incorrect. This statement makes a liar out of GOD. The Bible says Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of GOOD and EVIL, then he obtained the KNOWLEDGE to know good and evil. Today, man has that fallen image and we all reach that age of accountability when we KNOW that we are doing something wrong. The new-agers want to believe in the Divine but not acknowledge the Divine's Words. This is a contradiction. Is rape evil? Is murder evil? Is child molestation evil? What would the new-agers say about these things? Is it mind over matter? Should I just visualize the rapist ending his assault on some poor woman and it ends? Should I try to vibrate the evil out of existence? I will let you judge.

(6) Christians should actually be the MOST 'THINKING' PEOPLE on the planet. If a Christian is serious about his testimony, then sharing the Words of GOD with others should be of primary importance to him. Why? Because it deals with the eternal state of SOULS. Thus, if a Christian speaks to people of other belief systems, then he must study and learn about the other belief systems first in order to have any credibility.

(7) Relating Scripture to your personal life is something only you can experience for yourself. You will only live through it when you become a DOER of the Word and not a HEARER only. For me, the Truth in my Bible has gotten me through some emotional trauma such as the death of a sibling, raising her children as my own, aging parents and their needs, and making overall sense of the world around me. My wife is also BORN-AGAIN and she handles the needs of mentally-challenged people living in homes. We always remember to pray for the weak, and we work on our daily charity. However, we achieve these things through the strength and encouragement we get from doing those things we know will please GOD. When GOD is first, then everything else falls into place. These are very minor works, but we dedicate them to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

(8) "I have always believe that the Bible is supposed to be a thought-provoking, insightful, spiritual, inspirational book, not just a manual that tells you how to fold flap A into slot B."... I totally agree. However, a manual that does not tell you how something works is not much of a manual, correct? Before getting to know the thoughts, insights, spirit, and inspiration of the book, a solid foundation must be established. If you have no foundation, then you just have random thoughts, incorrect insights, the wrong spirit, and dubious inspiration. For example, what is the foundation of the following statement: "God is Love and Love is God. Thus, if I love, then I am God. Since I am God, I can love with a Love that is God and God can love with a Love that is I. This is so because God is I and I am God through the Love of God and I"? Personally, the manual is the better option.

(9) Calling the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ just 'symbols' is a private interpretation. Nowhere in the gospel accounts do the writers even remotely suggest that the actual events are not LITERAL events. You will never be able to do in small ways what Jesus Christ did on that cross. You are commanded to pick up your own cross and follow Him.

It was a pleasure to share these thoughts with you. I am sorry for the length of the post, but Vesuvius' post had many points.

@Concerned Citizen, because Inward Quest is focused only on questions and answers, there are obstructions in place to prevent questions turning into discussions, which often then become off-topic discussions. The 500 character limit in the comments is part of those obstructions. It is one of the deliberate mechanisms the website uses to ensure a high level of information quality. Hope that explains this limitation of the site for you.

Hello, Barry... Thank you for the clarification of the 'Answers' and 'Comments' sections. I was only asking as a new user, and my comment was not meant to question the logistics of this site in any way. Personally, I feel that this site's services offer tremendous opportunities for information exchanges! Thanks again.

@Concerned: You are the first person I have heard pose the premise that how you live your life in this life determines the quality of your life in Heaven. I wasn't aware that there are "levels" of heavenly experience, what you call "rewards" in heaven. What would such rewards look like? Is there a Biblical reference to such rewards?

Vesuvius: The people who are BORN-AGAIN go to the Judgement Seat of Christ for their rewards for what they did on earth in the service of Jesus Christ [I Corinthians 3:10-15][II Corinthians 5:9-11][Romans 14:10]. This is just for rewards, not salvation! Among other things, some specific rewards mentioned involve CROWNS: For example, [I Peter 5:4][James 1:12][II Timothy 4:8]. The lost are judged at the end of the Millenium at the Great White Throne Judgement [Revelation 20:11-15] before the start of Eternity. These are two different judgements that happen at different times.

I admire your apparent knowledge of Biblical theology, and the eloquent way you have of presenting it. But what does it all mean from a personal perspective?

It is a poignant story, one that any parent can relate to. "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." God made the ultimate sacrifice for us.

But what are the implications? If you believe in the scripture literally, it raises more questions than it answers. The Bible says that a man is washed of his sins when he PERSONALLY acknowledges and accepts the FINISHED work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Does that mean that all people who do this are forgiven, no matter how wicked they are? How long can they wait? Until the last few moments of life? Can they be as bad as they want to be until that moment comes?

What happened to people before Christ came along? Other religions claim that their spiritual leader is the supreme one. Who's right?

If you are forgiven, do you have to work at all at being a good person at life? In a way, this scripture (absent any clarifying scripture) confirms what some of the "new agers" have been saying all along...There is no good or evil at all. There is only the belief (or lack thereof) in the Divine. In fact, this is exactly what Genesis says; it speaks of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and how Adam and Eve lived with God and had no knowledge of Good and Evil before they ate from the tree.

What troubles many people about Christians is that they are often perceived as people who have stopped thinking; because they have accepted and live by the doctrines of their church, and since they are forgiven anyway, they no longer think carefully and deeply about the most important issues in life, choosing instead to let the scripture do their thinking for them.

The one thing Christians seem to fail to do is relate this scripture to my life, directly. Without that connection, I just find it confusing, especially from those that insist on literal interpretations of scripture. I have always believe that the Bible is supposed to be a thought-provoking, insightful, spiritual, inspirational book, not just a manual that tells you how to fold flap A into slot B.

To put it another way, I believe that the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ are symbols for things that we should be doing, in small ways, in our own life.

Hello, Vesuvius... Thanks for your comment. I wanted to address some questions from your post, so I posted a new 'answer' below because I needed more than 500 characters. I hope you will take the time to read it. I still do not know where to go if I need more space for a comment. If something exists, please advise. Thanks for reading.

Dualism is the basis for Philosophy and Religion. The Bible story of Adam and Eve’s knowledge of the good and bad, is the oldest source of Dualistic thinking. Therefore from a dualistic world view that man is separate from God. The Answer to your question is YES. However when we are conscious of the illusion of Separatism (Dualism). We realize that God which is unconditional love does not require a blood sacrifice. In Jesus day there was no Christianity, or Denominations. Jesus taught that God Loves us, an evolutionary leap in consciousness from the punishing God of the old human thinking. Jesus trusted God “And if I be lifted up will draw all men to me” Jesus’ message God Loves you. What it means to be Christ-like trust in God. (The consciousness of the Human race is evolving, but we have only had one major Reformation of our Religious Belief in 2000 years.)
Normally I would have ignored your question, I am not into trying to wake people up. That’s not what spirituality is about. What attracted me to your question is that it is one of the five points that Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield and other American Theologians author in 1910 as a declaration against liberal Theology. They name it “The Fundamental , A Testimony to the Truth.
If Jesus have lived and died in Africa would the Church have voodoo rituals.

C.C. I enjoyed both your question and answer, both very scriptural and accurate.

It does rise a question.
A question that I could never find an answer for, as to why the spilling of blood forgives sins? I understand it is a sacrifice to God but here we have God come down as a man (Jesus) to Earth to be as one of us and experience as we do the temptations of this earth and he had to keep pure then take all of humankind forever all their sins with him to the cross.
He then died as a sacrifice for us all his blood shed, now here is where it gets complicated, God as man dies as a sacrifice for us to save us to himself as God as God that we are now washed of sins and are acceptable into heaven. I know we needed the sacrifice as that is scriptural but this sacrifice is to God so it seems God needs it too, that seems odd a loving God that needs blood for sins, it makes it confusing. He loves us so much he became the blood sacrifice to himself for us.

Hello, Wade Casaldi... Excellent question! If you remove the BLOOD from a body, you remove the LIFE. If you die with your sins on you, you die the death of Jesus Christ on the cross (in type), shed your own BLOOD, and lose your LIFE. But, Jesus Christ offered Himself as your substitute on the cross, shed His own BLOOD, in order to GAIN your LIFE. The BLOOD had to come from a sinless man (to pay for man's sins) and be eternal (to wash you forever). Because the Bible says that the LIFE of the flesh is in the BLOOD, it is the BLOOD that makes an atonement for the soul [Leviticus 17:11].

Thank you so much for clearing that up, so it wasn't that it was a sacrifice TO God to appease him and his "desire for blood" as that seemed a very pagan thing to me that bothered me not understanding. It was more like a way to help us trapped by a law of fact that has been destroying us before Jesus died for us. Now this reveals his love for us is even greater because he saw his children suffering and it is not that he had a desire for blood and love for us it was entirely to save us and had nothing to do with appeasing him it was entirely for us.

you reap what you sow.The basic nature of God's Justice:
GALATIANS 6: 7-9 (KJV)
7: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8: For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9: And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

According to their way I will do to them, and according to
their own judgments I will judge them; and they shall know
that I am the LORD." (Ezekiel 7:27b RSV)

"TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED."

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men
should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is
the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12 KJV)

"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break
up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD,
till he come and rain righteousness upon you."
(Hosea 10:12 KJV)

"and I will give unto every one of you according
to your works." (Revelation 2:23c KJV)

Matthew 7:13-14 (KJV) Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide
is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and
many there be which go in thereat: [14] Because strait is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be
that find it.

“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. 18 Therefore take heed how you hear. oFor whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”

24 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be
compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
25 "But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the
wheat, and went away.
26 "But when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident
also.
27 "And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow
good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'
28 "And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' And the slaves said to him,
'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'
29 "But he said, 'No; lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root
up the wheat with them.
30 'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the
harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in
bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn." (Mat 13:24-30 NAS)

so no it is not by blood that you repare your sin. you reap what you sow. so do not sow tares and sow good wheats.

This question implies a belief in god, sins and valid payments for the forgiveness of sins, a system of beliefs that i held until the age of 19 years old, after which i took another path. Now i believe that all this boils down to "we reap what we sow", or in other words "the law of attraction".

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